1) Beathard: Poor guy. He got no help at all up front. Thats not to say he was great because he was off target for a large portion of the day but ya gotta feel for the guy. He was pressured on 60% of his snaps on Sunday and sacked several times. He still seems to show little pocket awareness but now (and I can't really blame him) he seems to be responding to the pressure...in a bad way. There were a few times it looked like he was going through his reads and just started running early in his progression.
The guy is a rookie. He will improve. He could be a player in the future but he certainly isn't there yet. Lets be real though...he's not the QB we all want to talk about....
2) Jimmy Garoppolo: Gotta admit...I was stunned. As some know I'm into politics (don't worry, not a political post) so on the way home from work last night I was listening to CNN on Sirius. IE, I missed it when it broke. It wasn't until I got home and looked at my twitter feed that I scared the hell out of my wife with a rather loud "WHAT!?!".
I have to own up to it probably not sounding as manly as I'd have liked.
My wife was cracking up.So my thoughts on the trade? I love it. LOVE it. Its not because I think he's a can't miss Franchise QB either. The reality is that nobody knows if thats what he is. Its also reality that nobody knows if any of the guys in the draft or even Kirk Cousins are that guy either. What is this to me? Relatively low risk with very high reward potential. I have to confess that Garoppolo was the guy I wanted last offseason. LOVE the movement ability (within the pocket), thick lower body to shed guys around his legs and escape, and most of all...the release. MAN I love the release.
So many will say "yeah but what about Ryan Mallett or Matt Cassel...New England QBs suck in second stops". True and fair, but I really think this is different. Cassell didn't start a single game in College. Mallet was a head case that fell in the draft. The only knock on Garoppolo in school was where he played. Below are Jimmys college stats....
2010: 58.8 comp%, 1639 yds, 7.8 YPA, 14TDs, 13 INTs, 133.6 rating
2011: 62.2 comp%, 2644yds, 7.6 YPA, 20 TDs, 14 INTs, 136.7 rating
2012: 61.3 comp%, 3823 yds, 7.1 YPA, 31 TDs, 15 INTs, 134.2 rating
2013: 66.0 comp%, 5050 yds, 8.9 YPA, 53 TDs, 9 INTs, 168.3 rating
That 2013 season is nuts. His New England stats....
2014-2016: 67% comp%, 690 yards, 8.4 YPA, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 106.2 rating
I want to be clear here. I'm making no guarantees. I don't know how good Jimmy will be. He could be great and he could be a total bust...
...but what immediately comes to mind here is this seems like New England making the opposite choice SF made with Montana/Young or Green Bay did with Favre/Rodgers. Would Young have been the same guy on another team had they been the guy traded? Would Rodgers? We'll never know.
Bottom line, I love this bold move. Now, let the guy sit for at least the next several weeks. Learn the system. Let Brown and Staley get back healthy. Hell, I'd be fine waiting till there were only 2 or 3 weeks left in the season. Certainly creates some excitement for the future in this lost season.
3) O-Line: Now that you might have your QB, invest BIG in the line. Free Agency, Draft, whatever. Have to get serious this offseason because right now that line is going to get somebody killed (Poor CJ Beathard).
4) Shanahan: That dude is gonna go grey early. LOL. Dude is a wizard moving pieces around the board but he just can't keep any of his guys upright. You can scheme all you want (and there were again some great calls...loved the TD to Breida) but if the guys can't execute it doesn't matter.
5) Injuries: Injuries are a hallmark of a bad team. I don't know what makes one team constantly have injury issues while another does not. Training staff? Bad luck? I dunno. Niners are certainly getting hit though with the injury stick. When you don't have may good players its tough to win. When the only good ones you have can't get on the field, its impossible.
6) Hyde: Still on the fence if I want him back, but I'd be lying if I didn't think the prospect of possibly having #26 at Penn State wasn't impacting my thought process. Guy plays hard even in lost cause games. Hands are failing him but his QB isn't making it easy. I like Carlos but still don't know if he's a part of the future in SF.
7) Reid: I give him credit for accepting the role as an OLB and I'd have liked to see how it played out but it looks like it was a short experiment. I think he's moving back to SS because....
8) Ward: Ward can't stay on the field. I've just about given up on this guy. He always seems to be on the cusp of turning into something, but he's just so damn fragile. He may come back and be a good player for them but he's at the point now where there is no way they could ever depend on him to be healthy. This might keep Reid in SF with Reid and Tartt as your safeties.
9) Saleh: Gotta feel for this guy as well. His guys are dropping like flies but he's still getting them up to play with guys who have been on the roster for 1 or 2 weeks. I like this guy. I think he's here for the long haul.
10) 50% there: Halfway through this rebuild season. This was always going to be rough but its been rougher than we thought. Thats OK though. If you are going to suck you might as well REALLY suck. Some guys are starting to show that they are building blocks. Some guys are showing that they are not. The future is starting to unfold before us and the Garoppolo trade is a big part of that. I look forward to much, much more.
[ Edited by Marvin49 on Oct 31, 2017 at 9:57 AM ]
